What’s it like living underground? How did he get out?

Paul Vautrinot shares his story of living in the Las Vegas tunnels, or as he states it, beneath the neon. He shares what life in the Vegas underground city was like with the tunnel people, how he left, got sober & became a co-founder of Shine a Light Foundation. He shares the organization’s unique approach to ending homelessness & how they are by-passing wait lists.

This episode originally aired June 6, 2022

If you like this episode, you’ll also like episode 248: SURVIVING THE TROUBLED TEEN INDUSTRY: SEPARATING IDENTITY FROM EXPERIENCE [REMASTERED]

Guest:

https://www.shinealightlv.com/

https://www.facebook.com/shinealightLV

https://www.instagram.com/shine_a_lightlv/

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beneath-the-neon-podcast/id1532967337

Host:

https://www.meredithforreal.com/

https://www.instagram.com/meredithforreal/

meredith@meredithforreal.com

https://www.youtube.com/meredithforreal

https://www.facebook.com/meredithforrealthecuriousintrovert

Sponsors:

https://www.jordanharbinger.com/starterpacks/

https://www.historicpensacola.org/about-us/

00:00 — The hidden city beneath Vegas

02:00 — A “happy” childhood behind chaos

03:20 — Getting invited underground

06:00 — First night in the tunnels

07:00 — Nicknames and neighborhoods below ground

08:00 — The drug dealer’s driver and the underground map

09:00 — Biking blind in total darkness

10:00 — Hierarchies of the homeless tunnels

12:00 — The girlfriend, the cricket, and the cops

18:00 — Jail, withdrawal, and a strange stroke of luck

20:00 — From drug court to sobriety

21:00 — Meeting Matt O’Brien and the flood-drain exposé

23:00 — The birth of Shine A Light

25:00 — Building a no-waitlist system for help

27:00 — Trust, recovery, and the Vegas community

29:00 — What would actually end homelessness?

30:00 — Creating stability in the smallest windows of hope

31:00 — What’s next for Shine A Light

32:00 — 104 people out of the tunnels

33:00 — How to help and get involved

34:00 — A new kind of light under Vegas

Request to join my private Facebook Group, MFR Curious Insiders https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1BAt3bpwJC/

Is it possible to maintain mental acuity well into your golden years? How do we assess ourselves (instead of waiting to see)?

Dr. Dale Bredesen earned his M.D. from Duke University Medical Center & served as Chief Resident in Neurology at the University of California. He's now a Neuroscience researcher & internationally recognized expert in the mechanisms of neurodegenerative diseases. His newest book is The Ageless Brain: How to Sharpen and Protect Your Mind for a Lifetime. In this episode, we cover helpful early detection tests, the stages of decline & proven protocols for brain health.

If you like this episode, you’ll also like episode 285: IS HEART COHERENCE A CHAOS CURE-ALL? HEALTH, BEHAVIOR & INTUITION

Guest:

https://a.co/d/jawEi3J

https://www.apollohealthco.com/

https://www.facebook.com/drdalebredesen/about

https://x.com/DrDaleBredesen

https://www.instagram.com/apollohealthco/

Host:

https://www.meredithforreal.com/

https://www.instagram.com/meredithforreal/

meredith@meredithforreal.com

https://www.youtube.com/meredithforreal

https://www.facebook.com/meredithforrealthecuriousintrovert

Sponsors:

https://www.jordanharbinger.com/starterpacks/

https://www.historicpensacola.org/about-us/

00:00 — Why we excuse brain blips

01:02 — The doctor redefining “inevitable” Alzheimer’s

02:15 — Early detection that starts in your kitchen

03:40 — Prevention without the sales pitch

05:00 — The four stages of cognitive decline

07:00 — How to know if you’re in stage two

08:30 — The MOCA test and what scores really mean

11:30 — When neurodivergence clouds self-awareness

12:15 — Free tools to gauge your brain health

13:00 — Alzheimer’s vs. Parkinson’s: the subtle difference

15:00 — How toxins quietly cripple your mitochondria

17:00 — Early signs of Parkinson’s most people ignore

18:30 — The gut-brain link you need to know

20:00 — Mold, metals, and the six “bad guys”

22:00 — Functional vs. conventional medicine: finding real help

24:00 — Why doctors must ask “why,” not “what”

26:00 — The emotional weight of pursuing vitality

28:00 — True or false: the biggest Alzheimer’s myths

30:00 — The genetic odds—and how to beat them

31:30 — Oral health and Alzheimer’s connection

33:00 — The seed oil and statin debate

34:30 — Fighting the medical bystander effect

38:00 — Ketones, cold plunges, and other brain hacks

40:00 — The real deal on nootropics and psychedelics

42:30 — When memory and music come back to life

44:00 — Screen time, circadian rhythms, and your cognition

47:00 — Sugar: the brain’s ultimate saboteur

49:00 — The KetoFlex 12/3 diet for brainspan

52:00 — How sleep detoxes your brain

55:00 — Exercise as neuroprotection

57:00 — The caregiving parad

Join me and Scott Johnson for a virtual meet up! Thursday, November 6th at 6pm US Central Time.

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89420413041?pwd=n7U64pcT5kNa4bxIEgerlHvj45yblg.1#success

Request to join my private Facebook Group, MFR Curious Insiders https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1BAt3bpwJC/

What happens when attraction never shows up? Why does this label matter?

Tony Bogaert, PhD, is the professor of health sciences at Brock University in Ontario, Canada where he has taught & conducted research for the last 30 years, primarily in the area of human sexuality. He’s also the author of Understanding Asexuality.

In this episode, you’ll learn the difference between asexuality & sexual aversion disorder, celibacy & autism as well as how someone might be asexual, but also be married with children. We talk about asexual pop culture icons, historical figures & evolution.

If you like this episode, you’ll also like episode 121: PROFESSIONAL CUDDLER? HUGGING, HORMONES & BODY AUTONOMY

Guest:

https://a.co/d/9NC71X3

tbogaert@brocku.ca

Host:

https://www.meredithforreal.com/

https://www.instagram.com/meredithforreal/

meredith@meredithforreal.com

https://www.youtube.com/meredithforreal

https://www.facebook.com/meredithforrealthecuriousintrovert

Sponsors:

https://www.jordanharbinger.com/starterpacks/

https://www.historicpensacola.org/about-us/

00:00 — What if your “thing” is no thing?

01:00 — Game show kickoff: “What’s the Difference?”

01:30 — Asexuality vs. celibacy

02:00 — Midlife disinterest or lifelong orientation?

02:30 — Hyposexual desire disorder explained

04:00 — Asexuality vs. sexual aversion

05:00 — Asexuality and autism spectrum overlap

06:00 — Sheldon Cooper: autism or asexual icon?

07:00 — What causes lack of sexual attraction?

08:30 — Personal motivation behind his research

09:00 — How a survey question sparked 30 years of study

11:00 — Why sexuality takes up so much mental space

12:00 — Why labels drive us crazy—and why we need them

15:00 — “Gray” and “demi”—the asexual spectrum

16:00 — Are we overlabeling, or just being human?

17:00 — Why demisexuality finally clicked for Meredith

20:00 — Love route vs. lust route: two paths to attraction

21:00 — Romantic but not sexual—how that works

24:00 — The sexual recession vs. true asexuality

25:00 — What’s really behind declining sex rates

26:00 — How researchers untangle the gray areas

27:00 — Can people “overclaim” the asexual label?

28:00 — Why some asexuals still masturbate

29:00 — “Cleaning out the plumbing” — other reasons for solo sex

30:00 — Historical roots: early accounts of asexuality

32:00 — Sherlock Holmes and the “asexual aura”

33:00 — Virgin Mary as cultural symbol of purity

34:00 — Eunuchs, testosterone, and the myth of distraction

35:00 — Do asexuals have a focus advantage?

36:00 — Evolutionary puzzles: how does asexuality persist?

40:00 — Is sex really necessary for health?

41:00 — Connection without sex: what it looks like

42:00 — The flowchart of asexuality—how to self-reflect

45:00 — His book Understanding Asexuality and what’s next

46:00 — Sex makes us do crazy things—his next book topic

Request to join my private Facebook Group, MFR Curious Insiders https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1BAt3bpwJC/